Arms and the Woman | Page 9

I am going to give him another chance. I want
you to go over and take care of him if possible. The London work is not
new to you. You can handle that and Hillars too. If you can keep him in
check----"
I shuddered. The word "check" jarred on my nerves.
"What's the matter?" asked the editor.
"A temporary chill," I said. "Go on."
"Well, if you can manage to keep him in check for a month or so he'll
be able to get on his feet again. And it will be like a vacation to you. If
anything happens to Hillars you will be expected to remain

permanently abroad. Hillars suggested you in his letter. Will you be
ready to go next Monday?"
"To-morrow if you like," I answered readily enough. Here was an
opportunity not to be missed. To see new scenes and faces is partially
to forget old ones.
"Very well. I'll give you some letters which will help you. Our office is
in the Strand. Hillars will find you lodgings. He has bachelor quarters
in the west end of the town, where congenial spirits congregate. Come
in to-morrow and we'll talk it over."
I was much pleased with the turn of events. If I could get away from
New York I might forget Phyllis--no, not forget her; I loved her too
well ever to forget her; but the prolonged absence would cure me of my
malady.
Before going to bed that night I lit a cigar, but not with the check. On
sober second thought I calculated that the sum would pay up all my
debts and leave me a comfortable margin. A man can well pocket his
pride when he pockets a thousand dollars with it. And why not? I was
about to start life anew and might as well begin on a philosophical
basis. Who knew but my uncle had foreseen the result of his bequest;
my rage, my pride, and finally lighting a cigar with his check? It really
might make his spirit writhe to better effect if I became benefited.
Sober second thought is more or less a profitable investment.
On the morrow everything was arranged for my departure. I was to
leave Saturday morning.
It was a beautiful day, crisp and clear, with a bare ground which rang to
the heel. In the afternoon I wandered over to the Park and sat down on
a bench, and watched the skaters as they glided to and fro. I caught
myself wishing that I was a boy again, with an hour's romp on the
sheeny crust in view. Gradually the mantle of peace fell upon me, and
there was a sense of rest. I was going to forgive the world the wrong it
had done me; perhaps it would feel ashamed of itself and reward me for
my patience. So Hillars was "going to pieces." It is strange how we

men love another who has shared and spent with us our late
patrimonies. Hillars and I had been friends since our youth, and we had
lived together till a few years back. Then he went to Washington, from
there to Paris, thence to London. He was a better newspaper man than I.
I liked to dream too well, while he was always for a little action. Liquor
was getting the best of him. I wondered why. It might be a woman.
There is always one around somewhere when a man's breath smells of
whisky. A good deal of this woman's temperance business is caused by
remorse. I was drawing aimless pictures in the frozen gravel, when I
became aware that two skaters had stopped in front of me. I glanced up
and saw Phyllis and Ethel, their eyes like stars and their cheeks like
roses.
"I was wondering if it was you," said Ethel. "Phyllis, where is my
cavalier?"
"I believe he has forsaken us," said the voice of the woman I loved.
"Will you not accept part of the bench?" I asked, moving along.
The girls dropped easily beside me.
"I was just wishing I was a boy again and was in for a game of
hockey," said I. "I am going to London on Saturday. Our foreign
correspondent has had to give up work on account of ill health."
"You haven't----" Phyllis stopped suddenly.
"Oh, no," said I intuitively. "I am growing rusty, and they think I need a
vacation." I was glad Ethel was there with her voluble chatter.
"Oh, a foreign correspondent!"' she cried.
"Yes."
"You will have a glorious time. Papa will probably return to B---- when
the next administration comes in. It is sure to be Republican." There are
a few women who pose as Democrats; I never met one of them. "You

know papa was there twenty years